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RNC 2016 coming to Cleveland: Editorial Board Roundtable

Cleveland Skyline

RNC 2016 announced Tuesday it is coming to Cleveland and its farm-to-table restaurant scene to pick its next presidential nominee. In this file photo, Alesiah Berry, 22, waters newly transplanted tomatoes for the Cleveland Crops garden in the Ohio City neighborhood overlooking downtown Cleveland.
(Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

We did it! For the first time since 1936, Cleveland will play host to a Republican National Convention -- and many of our local odds-makers say the GOP was smart to pick a city in a battleground state whose urban core may be Democratic but where an independent streak runs throughout the county and region. How Northeast Ohio goes is likely to be a significant bellwether for how the rest of the state goes in 2016.

Will landing this convention be, as proponents believe, the shot of adrenalin and positive attention that Cleveland needs to shed its rust belt image -- or at least burnish it as rust-belt chic, in a city that still builds and invents stuff, but also has become a brain-gain location for young talent with its rising neighborhoods and farm-to-table scene and exceptional art and cultural institutions?

Or will it, as detractors believe, condemn Cleveland to overspending on a meeting likely to bring gridlock and worse to downtown, without the positive spinoffs that investments in education or other civic goods could yield?

Members of our editorial board offer their initial thoughts and we welcome yours in the comments below.

Sharon Broussard, editorial writer, Northeast Ohio Media Group:

The party of No said yes to the right city. Cleveland is experiencing a more sustainable rebound than ever before -- and I hope the RNC delegates get out of the convention hall and take in the new biomedical businesses, restaurants, local food gardens and cultural institutions that make Cleveland exciting.

Now the city must raise the money to pay for the convention. We can do it if we all pull together.

Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:

The decision by Republicans to hold the party's national convention in Cleveland is great news for the city, for the Western Reserve and for Ohio. To trundle out a word reserved for special news, the decision is fan-tabulous. And not to be overlooked is the opportunity the convention, and pre-convention preparations, will offer Republican Gov. John Kasich -- given that he's favored to win re-election this year -- to showcase his administration and Ohio. It's way too soon for the Kasiches to ask the Bidens for the floor plans of No. 1 Observatory Circle -- the vice president's official residence in Washington -- but it's not too soon to speculate about Kasich's 2016 prospects.

Kevin O'Brien, deputy editorial page editor, The Plain Dealer:

What in heaven's name are the Republicans thinking? Why have their big, important meeting in a city where they are almost perfectly despised? Are they trying to eclipse the Democrats' record for street protests associated with a political convention (Chicago, 1968)? And in the end, the inconvenience is going to cost the Republicans all 11 of their Cleveland voters.

Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director, Northeast Ohio Media Group:

This is a shot in the arm for Cleveland and a well-deserved affirmation from the Republican Party both about the attributes Cleveland has worked so hard to cultivate for visitors, from first-class hotel rooms to world-class restaurants, meeting sites and culture in a compact downtown, but also about how critical the Ohio vote is going to be for the GOP in 2016. The Republicans are making a wise choice in coming to a Democratic-leaning city in a blue-red state.

Christopher Evans, editorial writer, Northeast Ohio Media Group:

The choice is a bold move that brings the fight for the White House to the scene of prior Republican fiscal crimes -- to a city, to a county, to a state that slowly but surely are re-inventing themselves in the wake of a Wall Street-fueled mortgage meltdown.

It also confirms our status as a national political power broker.

Peter Krouse, editorial writer, Northeast Ohio Media Group:

Great news for Cleveland. Shrewd move by the Republicans.

Having thousands of political types in Cleveland for several days will give the local economy a huge shot, but more importantly, it will showcase the city, not just to the rest of the country, but to the world. Journalists can't spend all their time dissecting the Republican platform, so they will have to get out and about and write about what they see. Also, by picking a city like Cleveland - largely Democratic and still struggling to overcome economic and crime-related problems - the Republicans are saying the people here matter. Who knows if that will mean more votes for the Republican presidential candidate come Election Day in the all-important swing state of Ohio, but it certainly won't hurt.

This post has been updated to correct year for last Republican nominating convention in Cleveland to 1936.

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